Guard tour verification
Guard tour verification is proof that a guard walked the route, reached each checkpoint, and did it when the contract says. A security company needs it to defend the hours it bills. A property owner or a site manager needs it because the patrols happen at night, and the only other evidence is a logbook.
A logbook entry reads the same whether the guard walked the site or sat in the car. That makes every incident an argument about trust. A record built from scans at each checkpoint moves the conversation to the times.
Were you there? Security patrol proof after an incident
These are the moments you need it.
A break-in overnight
A compound is broken into between two patrols. The client's first question is when the guard last walked past that fence. The insurer asks the same thing a few days later.
A client reviewing the contract
A client paying for hourly patrols wants to know how many took place last month. The company knows its guards were on post. It needs to show the rounds themselves, stop by stop.
A supervisor's doubts
A new night guard's log looks perfect. The route takes 25 minutes on foot, but nothing in the log shows how long it took. A supervisor who cannot be on site has no way to know.
How a code answers it: QR patrol checkpoints
Put a code at each checkpoint, make a round of those points, and set the order, the shortest time between two stops and the schedule. The round has its own start code, which is free. The guard scans it, then each checkpoint, and taps All clear, or Issue with what is wrong and a photo. An issue opens a follow-up. The phone shows the next stop, and scanning the start code again ends the patrol.
Each run shows the stops reached, the time at each, and the gap since the one before. Missed stops, stops out of order or too fast, and patrols never started are flagged. A Rounds report gives scheduled, done, partial and missed patrols for each round, as a PDF or a CSV.
If you do the work
Hold the account, and fix codes at your client's site with their permission. Send the Rounds report with your invoice. After an incident, you can send the run for that night the same morning. It also tells a supervisor which posts need attention.
If you pay for the work
Ask for the Rounds report each month, and read the partial and missed lines. If you want to read the runs yourself, hold the account, approve the security company, and leave the codes in place when the contract moves to another company.
Worked example: Wexcombe Security
Wexcombe Security has 40 guards and covers 9 sites. One is a logistics yard with a fence line, 3 gates and a fuel store.
Wexcombe places 8 checkpoints and one round, in order, with 60 seconds as the shortest time between stops. The schedule is every 2 hours from 20:00 to 06:00, and the outdoor stops check location within 50 metres.
On a Saturday, the guard starts the 22:00 patrol at 22:04 and finishes at 22:37 with all 8 stops. At the fuel store at 22:29, they tap Issue and write that a padlock is hanging open, with a photo. The patrol at midnight reaches 7 of 8 stops, because the east gate is skipped. The 04:00 patrol is never started, and with quiet hours off, the duty supervisor gets the alert when its slot ends at 06:00.
On Monday, the client asks about Saturday night. Wexcombe sends the Rounds report: 5 patrols scheduled, 3 done, 1 partial and 1 missed, with a follow-up open on the padlock. The supervisor reviews the 04:00 slot with the guard.
Names and numbers are examples.
Recommended settings for guard companies
| Setting | Recommended, and why |
|---|---|
| Photo | Offered with an issue, and not on All clear, so that a routine patrol is one tap at each stop. |
| Location check | On at outdoor checkpoints, at 50 metres. Off inside buildings, where a phone's position can drift. |
| Scan in and out | Off on checkpoints. If you want hours on post, add an Attendance point at the guardhouse. |
| Approvals | Approved people for a client's account. On your own account, flag anyone else, so that a stranger's scan is seen. |
| Alerts | A patrol not started: each time, with quiet hours off for night posts, or it waits until morning. Partial patrols in the daily summary. Alerts are set for the whole account. |
| Shortest time | A little under the walk between the two closest stops. Time it on foot first. |
What it does not do
It is not an alarm, a panic button or an emergency system. It does not track a guard between scans, since a phone's position is read only at the moment of a scan.
It does not schedule shifts or assign guards. It shows that a guard reached a code at a time, and what they reported. It does not show what they saw there.
Questions
Do guards need a company phone?
No. Any phone with a camera and a data connection works, including their own. Workers never pay and never install an app. There is no offline mode, so test the signal at each checkpoint.
Can a guard scan from the guardhouse?
Only if the code is there, or a photo of it is. Keep codes out of reach of a photo where you can, and turn on the location check at outdoor checkpoints. Scans faster than your shortest time between stops are flagged.
Does a guard need to scan every stop on every patrol?
Yes, for that patrol to show as complete. Stops not scanned count as missed, and the run shows as partial.
Can a client see the patrols live?
Not on a security company's account, since there is no client login. Send the Rounds report as a PDF or CSV. A client who holds the account sees each run on its own pages.
How does a two-person patrol work?
One guard scans for the patrol. A run belongs to the person who started it, so a second guard who scans the start code has a separate run of their own.
Will the alert reach me during an incident?
Do not rely on it. ScanNLog is not an alarm. A missed patrol is reported only after its slot ends, and alerts can take minutes. Keep your own emergency procedures.
Start with one free code
No credit card. Workers never pay and never install an app. Pricing is per code, in US dollars, with unlimited workers.